Gormick is developing the plan on behalf of the Southwestern Ontario Transportation Alliance (SWOTA), a network of rail advocacy groups spread out across the region.

Details of the Network Southwest plan are still in the works, but SWOTA president Terry Johnson said the four-year plan will focus on utilizing the region's existing infrastructure – rail lines and bus routes – to make them work as part of a cohesive regional transit system.

“We're really talking about things that can be developed in this term of office of the current government, so no mass procurements, no big splashy spending but practical, on-the-ground results that will improve quality of life and economic opportunities here,” he said Tuesday.

Several Southwestern Ontario communities have been hit hard by cuts to Via Rail passenger service over the last few years, sparking the creation of a slew of rail advocacy groups and ongoing discussions among mayors.

“There isn't a mayor along the route from (Sarnia) to Toronto... that isn't supporting an improved train service for sure,” said Jim Houston, president of Rail Advocacy in Lambton.

But some rail advocates and mayors suggest the difficulty lies in getting buy-in from senior levels of government, as well as railway operators, to improve passenger service.

Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley described getting all the stakeholders on the same page as a “recipe for gridlock.”

“The province points to Via and the federal government. The federal government points to the province's role. The province points to high-speed rail as their direction, yet they're increasing Go [Transit] service in leaps and bounds throughout the GTA region.”

At this time, Bradley said Sarnia is still in need of a second set of Via trains – one into and one out of the community.

Via Rail cancelled Sarnia's second train in the fall of 2012, pointing to declining ridership for the decision.

“It's extremely frustrating because we're the only western nation that doesn't seem to understand that rail is the way of the future as it relates to the movement of a large number of people in an environmental and cost effective way,” Bradley added.

Some rail advocates, however, argue the timing couldn't be better to see a plan of improved rail service come into fruition with a federal election just around the corner.

The Ontario government also recently announced a $29-billion, 10-year plan for transportation projects, including the long-awaited high-speed rail service set to connect Windsor, London, Kitchener-Waterloo and Toronto.

“We thought the time was right [to release the Network Southwest plan] because we've got the high-speed rail plan moving forward in Ontario,” said Mabel Higgins, vice-president of Rail Advocacy in Lambton.

When asked if it is feasible to get all the stakeholders to work together for the Network Southwest plan, Johnson said all levels of government – municipal, provincial and federal – have a stake in improving the region's transit system.

“At the end of the day, all of those dollars come from the same source and the better we can persuade them to work together, the more bang we'll get for our buck and that's what this is about.”

“It's a recipe for gridlock. The province points to Via and the federal government. The federal government points to the province's role. The province points to high-speed rail as their direction, yet they're increasing Go [Transit] service in leaps and bounds throughout the GTA region.”

– Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley on the difficulty of all the stakeholders involved in improving regional transportation

“There isn't a mayor along the route from (Sarnia) to Toronto...that isn't supporting an improved train service for sure.”

– Jim Houston, president of Rail Advocacy in Lambton

“At the end of the day, all of those dollars come from the same source and the better we can persuade [governments] to work together, the more bang we'll get for our buck and that's what this is about.”